Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

A review of the John Carpenter classic

The Film’s stunning poster

This fantastical tale concerns Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), joined by his entourage end up in the middle of a war between good and evil in a labyrinth of underground tunnels in an attempt to rescue Gracie (Kim Cattrall) and Miao Yin (Suzee PaI) from forced marriage to the overlord David Lo Pan (James Hong).

Now first off, Big Trouble (shortened for convenience sake) has aged exceptionally well. I’ve seen many people over multiple platforms throw around the criticism that the film makes little to no sense, with some going as far as saying the fantasy elements are unjust, but to be honest I found this to be exceptionally entertaining and very well structured. Not everything in a film has to be exceptionally well detailed with chapters of exposition all dialogue and here, Carpenter manages to give a world that is, in the context of the film very understandable and is something that in my opinion, allows for better alignment with Jack and the rest of the cast. Just like the lead characters you’re not privy to all the information and it’s just as jarring to the viewer as well, which to me feels like the point. When talking about the films well aged parts, its representation personally felt very PC for lack of a better term and in terms of filmic qualities the majority of effects were serviceable, be that the CGI rendered wandering eye or some of the more practical creatures/elements which boast outstanding artistry.

With the only real negative of the film being sound quality. Streamed via Sky CIndia the range of sound was horrific, with absolutely zero consistency. Dialogue quality varied from scene to scene and the audio effects were horrific, effectively being muted in some scenes to deafening in others. With no other experience of this film in any other formats, I cannot yet conclude whether this is an issue on behalf of Sky or something that plagues all the transfers on varying formats.

I was rather surprised by the satirical elements of the film, though like the sound quality I’m not sure it was wholly intentional (Despite evidence suggesting it is). With Russell’s performance being the main indication of commentary, his role as Jack Burton is against type, especially during the 80s, the decade where he was at the peak of his powers. Coming off the back of two of Carpenter’s most revered works: Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982) as somewhat anti-hero leads, Jack Burton is pretty much the opposite. Often clumsy and very reluctant, it’s a turn similar to Patrick Swayze in Point Break, completely against the charm of the individual but still effective. Anyway, placing such a character into this situation managed to both add a level of comedy to the film and a masked level of commentary poking fun at the nature of action heroes, in a period where the genre of film was perhaps at its most popular. On top of that, this film seemed massively out of place in my perception of John Carpenter as a director as well. I’ve seen his horror masterpiece Halloween and I’m fully aware of his works with Russell and his other iconic films yet comedy wasn’t something I’d ever have him as capable of, and such I was pleasantly surprised when watching this, though it’s worth noting it wasn’t ‘laugh a minute’ but still a clever take on the genre.

Overall, Big Trouble in Little China was a fantastic viewing experience and was a pleasant surprise. Another perfect outing from Carpenter, I’d imagine the rest of his filmography is full of similar gems and classics which I’ll be sure to work through eventually. As for this, I can’t speak highly enough of it.